Thursday, February 23, 2012

My friend Courtney Walsh has written a novel, A Sweethaven Summer, and she's been doing a series of blog posts about the book, the various themes in it, and also giveaways. She asked me to do a layout about a place that is meaningful to me. (BTW, the book is a really good read. There's an awesome character named Luke Barber. Pretty awesome name, if I may say so myself...)

Initially I thought about all the places I've lived at, and I've lived in a lot of different places. But then it occurred to me that what I needed to scrap about was the place in which I'm currently living: Los Angeles.

Los Angeles is a hard place to love if you live here. And I mean here-here. In the middle of the city. The traffic is atrocious at all times. It's noisy, dirty, polluted. There are some crazy drivers here, but the pedestrians are nuts too! When I first moved here, I really wanted to like it. But I could not. I missed my house in Philly. I missed my friends. I missed the four seasons weather. I missed the kids' schools, the real cheesesteak, the crazy groundhogs walking around, the hiking trails.

After a few months of pouting, faking being happy, some more pouting, I realized that it wasn't the city that was making me sad. It was me! I was in my own way. So I resolve to be happier. I resolve to explore more, and see what this place offers. I've made friends, I've become more involved in the kids' school. I might even talk to a neighbor or two.

Because really, how can I be angry with a place that is almost always sunny, warm, and has palm trees? Right?

The chevron stamp is from Lawn Fawn's Chevron Backdrops, which will be available on March 1st. Other supplies: Ink / Clearsnap's Colorbox; thread / DMC; cardstosck: Neenah; font / p22 Typewriter. (Sorry for the slightly pink photos!)